Topic: Justified (New FX Show)

[Hedley Lamarr]

I can not fucking wait until September to watch this. It's like one of those comfort series, superb stuff.

Hoping the new ones are good. Interesting to see how it is without various side characters and the Kentucky setting itself. Boyd Crowder has probably been my favourite character in anything in the last 10/15 years on telly, and he was a pretty bad man 

It's good mate, it's not Prime Raylan vs Boyd good, but so entertaining.

[Titi Camara]

I'm enjoying it, episode 2 ramps

The original series lived on the relationship between Raylan and Boyd, the protagonist full of pent up rage and anger, violence an ever present reality, but by contrast, the antagonist, a learned and spiritual man , prone to outbursts in the extreme that even he struggled to justify . It was what made the show special, the razor thin line between them. The what if's? The moral ambiguity of both of their natures and their persisting friendship regardless.

There is no chance of them recreating that, it was the lightening in a bottle that made the show great.

The current antagonist has been set up as an analogue predator, lacking any foresight, acting on impulse and emotion. And this is where my worry creeps in, are they are trying to pull the same stunt twice, just with a different set of character flaws? Pro and Ant at odds but similarly disadvantaged?

I've no idea of the proposed run time for this new iteration or character retention rates, and I know it's only early days, but I'd worry for the shows longevity if this is their baddest, bad guy.

[Hedley Lamarr]

It's a limited series based on the one book (which Raylan isn't actually in), the original Justified was based on the short story Pronto but drew from other Elmore Leonard books.

There are eight episodes and then it's done.

[Titi Camara]

It's a limited series based on the one book (which Raylan isn't actually in), the original Justified was based on the short story Pronto but drew from other Elmore Leonard books.

There are eight episodes and then it's done.

I always thought, Justified, was based on the book, Fire In The Hole.

The short run kinda makes me sad but also relieved, would obviously have liked more, but something short, tight and quality would defo trump something drawn out and flabby.

[Hedley Lamarr]

I guess it was based on all three.  Pronto was the first Givens story, then Riding The Rap and then the Fire In The Hole collection.  The pilot of Justified is based on Fire In The Hole, but the beginning (the Miami bit) is based on Pronto.  Episode three of Justified (The Fixer) is a loose adaptation of Riding The Rap.  Elmore Leonard wrote Raylan in 2012 after the success of the show, most of Season three is based on that book. 

Spoiler

The confrontation between Raylan and Boyd in episode one results in Boyd dying in the book, he's also 50-odd years of age.  Winona is mentioned in the novella but never seen and there's no Arlo Givens.  Leonard was on record saying he preferred how the show handled the Boyd stuff.

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[Titi Camara]

Holy fuck that spoiler is wild

Spoiler

I'm not saying the show would have been shite without Boyd but...the show would've been shite without Boyd

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He's 51 now , the dude has no right to still be that handsome and still have a forehead that large

[disgraced cake]

Legendary villain. Did a rewatch of the whole series not too long ago and it holds up so well - just brilliantly crafted. Barely a misstep, although Michael Rapaport as the main villain in Season 5 is up there.

And the last scene between Raylan and Boyd is so well written. For a show as explosive as Justified to end with a simple conversation between the hero and the villain was inspired, as was the last line.

It got the villains spot on. Margo Martindale in season 2 was class and so was Neal McDonough as Quarles in the next season, stole every scene. Wynn Duffy too 

Just an excellent series in general. Don't think it ever got anywhere near the acclaim it should have in the UK as plenty of (IMO) weaker American series did.

[bradders1011]

What we thinking? I'm enjoying it.

[Barefoot Doctor]

What we thinking? I'm enjoying it.

Just finished it (it came to Disney+ the other week). Full spoilers:

Spoiler

Obviously with Raylan being the only character we know, it took a while for me to fully get into it. But they do a really good job of building the supporting cast and they all did feel very Elmore Leonard. Raylan arguably feels more like a supporting character himself at points... he often feels on the fringes of things, and he's obviously more mature than in his Harlan days even if that anger bubbles up at points.

Clement Mansell was a great villain, him and Sandy felt the best source of that traditional Justified humour. Also enjoyed Sweety, although the lad playing his partner took me out of every scene he was that bad.

I'm torn on the ending. Obviously was excited to see Boyd pop up in prison, but the original ending of Justified was perfection IMO. The conversation between Boyd and Raylan, 'we dug coal together' - I can't imagine a better way to wrap up their story. So to have what's clearly sequel bait, which will undoubtedly lead to Raylan being pulled back in to catch Boyd... I'm not sure how I feel about that.

So yeah, not near as good as Classic Justified but still very enjoyable. I think they'll undoubtedly do another miniseries focused on Boyd and Raylan, so fingers crossed they handle that well.

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